Vijayadashami

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Women in traditional attire immerse a colorful idol of the goddess Durga in the Mahananda River during the Durga Puja festival in Siliguri, India.

A woman in a red sari applies red sindoor powder to the face of a decorated Durga idol during the Sindoor Khela ritual at Durga Puja in Lucknow, India.

Bengali women in red and white sarees joyfully apply vermilion to each other's faces during Sindur Khela, with a decorated Durga idol in the background at a festival pandal.

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Also spelled:: Vijayadashmi, Vijaya Dashami, and Bijoya Doshomi

Related Topics:: Durga Puja; What is the difference between Dussehra and Vijayadashami?; Dussehra

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Vijayadashami

Q: What is Vijayadashami?

Vijayadashami is the final day of the 10-day Indian festival Durga Puja , which celebrates goddess Durga ’s victory over the demon king Mahishasura and her departure to Mount Kailash . It is celebrated in the month of Ashvin, or Ashvina, the seventh month of the Hindu calendar , which falls in September–October in the Gregorian calendar .

Q: When is Vijayadashami celebrated?

Vijayadashami is celebrated in the month of Ashvin, or Ashvina (September–October in the Gregorian calendar ), the seventh month of the Hindu calendar . It is final day of the 10-day festival of Durga Puja , which celebrates the descent of goddess Durga to Earth, her victory over the demon king Mahishasura, and her subsequent departure to Mount Kailash .

Q: What is the ritual of darpan visarjan ?

Darpan visarjan during Vijayadashami involves placing a water vessel before the goddess and using a mirror to view her reflection, symbolizing the departure of her divine presence from the murti . Once this is completed, the murti is regarded as lifeless, and thus may be touched and moved by human beings to a body of water for immersion.

Q: What happens during the visarjan procession?

During visarjan processions, accompanied by music, dancing, and chants venerating the goddess, Durga ’s murti s are carried to a body of water, in which they are immersed, symbolizing her return to Mount Kailash .

Hindu festival

Also known as: Bijoya Doshomi, Vijaya Dashami, Vijayadashmi

Written by

Tamanna Nangia

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Last updated

Oct. 31, 2026 •History

What is Vijayadashami?

When is Vijayadashami celebrated?

What is the ritual of darpan visarjan?

What happens during the visarjan procession?

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Vijayadashami, final day of the 10-day Indian festival Durga Puja, which celebrates the descent of goddess Durga to Earth, her victory over the demon king Mahishasura (from the Sanskrit terms mahisa, “buffalo,” and asura, “demon”), and her subsequent departure to Mount Kailash. Durga Puja is celebrated in the month of Ashvin, or Ashvina (September–October), the seventh month of the Hindu calendar, and is particularly observed in West Bengal, Assam, and other eastern Indian states. The observance of Durga Puja in the city of Kolkata was included in UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2021. Vijayadashami coincides with Dussehra in the northern parts of India.

(Read Britannica’s article on Durga Puja.)

Rituals and festivities

Did You Know?

In West Bengal sculptors traditionally mix punya mati (Bengali: “sacred soil”)—soil gathered from a brothel’s threshold—with the clay for goddess Durga’s murti. Two traditional beliefs are associated with this act: that men leave their “virtue” at the doorways of brothels, rendering the threshold’s soil ritually “purified” and thus fit to honor the goddess, and that the goddess sanctifies even stigmatized spaces, extending her protection to society’s margins.

During the days leading up to Vijayadashami, the goddess is worshipped in her various forms as Durga, Lakshmi, and Saraswati. Murtis (sacred images or depictions of a deity) of Durga, Lakshmi, and Saraswati are placed at various elaborately decorated pandals (temporary structures of bamboo and other materials) and installed in temples. Murtis of the goddess Durga depict her astride a lion and attacking Mahishasura.

Though not rooted in Hindu scriptures, it is a strongly held cultural belief of the Bengali community that during Durga Puja, Durga visits her parental home with her children—Lakshmi, Saraswati, Ganesha, and Kartikeya—and departs on Vijayadashami to return to her husband Shiva’s abode.

As dawn breaks on Vijayadashami, the final rituals for goddess Durga are performed and prayers are invoked. One of the most significant rites is darpan visarjan (“immersion through the mirror”). In this ritual a vessel of water is placed before the goddess, and a mirror is positioned so that her reflection is visible within it. Devotees are invited to take darshan (sacred viewing) of the goddess in this reflection. Symbolically this act represents the departure of the goddess’s divine presence (prana) from the murti. Once this is completed, the murti is regarded as lifeless, and thus may be touched and moved by human beings. The air then fills with the joyous energy of sindoor khela, one of the festival’s most cherished traditions. Married women, traditionally dressed in red and white saris, reach the pandals and gather before the murti of goddess Durga to apply vermilion (sindoor) on the goddess’s forehead and then on one another. They also streak each other’s faces with vermilion as a symbol of love, prosperity, and the enduring bond of marriage.

When the playful ritual draws to a close, the celebration shifts to a moment of tender farewell. The community joins together for the visarjan (immersion in water). Durga’s murtis are carried in grand processions, accompanied by music, dancing, and the chants of “Bolo durga mai ki joi!” (Hindi and Bengali: “Hail goddess Durga!”). Once near a body of water, the devotees immerse the murtis in the water, sending off the goddess with sweetmeats for her journey. Streets echo with both celebration and sorrow, for the immersion is an adieu, symbolizing the goddess’s return to her celestial abode at Mount Kailash. For many devotees, it is a deeply emotional moment, embodying the cycle of arrival and departure, joy and longing.

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